Monday, March 27, 2006

Leader of Albanian crime gang arrested in Turkey

ANKARA, Turkey-Turkish police have arrested the founder and leader of one of Albania's most notorious crime gangs in a raid in Ankara, officials in Albania said Sunday.Alfred Shkurti, leader of the Banda Aldo Bare crime gang, was detained early Saturday carrying a false Macedonian passport, Albanian Interior Ministry spokesman Altin Ndroqi said.Turkish news reports said he was detained at a house in Ankara's residential Batikent district following a tip.

Shkurti's gang operated out of Albania, Turkey, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Romania, trafficking drugs to Western Europe, according to Albanian Interior Minister Sokol Olldashi.....(continued).......